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EMERGENCY.LU DEPLOYING IN RESPONSE TO THE EARTHQUAKE IN NEPAL

Written on 30 Apr 2015

LUXEMBOURG, April 30, 2015 – SES S.A. (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) as one of the private partners in emergency.lu, is providing vital connectivity services following the disastrous earthquake in Nepal that damaged the country’s telecommunications infrastructure in the most severely affected region between Katmandu and Pokhara.

Emergency.lu communication service is supporting the Emergency Telecommunications Clusters in Nepal

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake, which hit on Saturday, April 25, and its aftershocks, have already claimed more than 5,500 lives and rescue efforts are intensifying. Communication services offered by emergency.lu provide connectivity to humanitarian responders in Nepal and are being deployed in close collaboration with the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster led by the World Food Programme.

One Rapid deployment kit is already on the ground and operational. Two additional kits are being redirected to Nepal from Vanuatu, where one kit remains in operation and continues to provide connectivity until the local infrastructure is restored on Tanna Island. All kits are providing reliable connectivity using the SES satellite network.

“When a natural disaster such as the earthquake in Nepal hits, telecom landlines and terrestrial wireless systems are inevitably destroyed, or overloaded by people sourcing help and information or trying to contact relatives,” said Gerhard Bethscheider, Managing Director of SES Techcom Services. “Satellite is the only infrastructure which enables communications networks to be restored quickly, facilitating the roll-out of coordinated humanitarian assistance and aid in this mountainous region.”

emergency.lu is a public-private partnership between the Luxembourg government and three Luxembourg-based companies. These companies, SES Techcom Services, Hitec Luxembourg and Luxembourg Air Ambulance, design and operate the platform. Emergency.lu uses dedicated SES satellite capacity and ground infrastructure to re-establish communications networks in support of humanitarian relief operations.

SES S.A. (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) is the world-leading satellite operator with a fleet of more than 50 geostationary satellites.

The company provides satellite communications services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators and business and governmental organisations worldwide. SES stands for long-lasting business relationships, high-quality service and excellence in the broadcasting industry.

The culturally diverse regional teams of SES are located around the globe and work closely with customers to meet their specific satellite bandwidth and service requirements. SES holds a participation in O3b Networks, a next generation satellite network combining the reach of satellite with the speed of fiber.

emergency.lu is addressing the challenge of worldwide rapid response capacity and preparedness for humanitarian emergencies by providing a solution to fill the communication gap in the first hours and days after a large-scale disaster.

emergency.lu is a multi-layer platform consisting of satellite infrastructure and capacity, communication and coordination services, satellite ground terminals for rapid as well as long-term deployment and transportation of equipment to the disaster area within the first 12 to 20 hours.

The 24/7 basis of the emergency.lu platform is an innovative end-to-end service for the international humanitarian community. This pioneering platform has improved the effectiveness of rapid response. The Luxembourg-initiated solution is unique in flexibility and performance.

emergency.lu is provided as a public good by Luxembourg government and is working in close collaboration with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) as global lead of the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC).

Services offered by SES Techcom Services, which is ISO 9001 certified, include the design and delivery of ground infrastructure and operational services, VSAT networks, broadband connectivity and turnkey teleport solutions. It also develops innovative solutions for e-government, e-health and e-education, as well as applications for worldwide emergency satellite communications.

Luxembourg Air Ambulance S.A. (LAA) is a subsidiary of Luxembourg Air Rescue A.s.b.l.. LAA is based at Luxembourg Airport where the company manages its hangars and offices. LAA is specialized in air-rescue and air-ambulance operations.

Its current fleet is composed of five rotary-wing aircraft MD 902 and five fixed-wing aircraft composed of three Learjet 45XR and two Learjet 35A. All LAA aircraft are equipped as mobile intensive care unit and staffed with experienced emergency doctors and intensive care nurses. Thanks to LAA’s experience, it is able to dispatch its airplanes worldwide with short delay.

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